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emduke19's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Abandonment
madinhoa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
avie_1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, and Classism
There was awful scene with bugs Generally I wish there were option of "insects"/"bugs" content warningemeraldrina's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cancer
whiterabbit_metta's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abandonment
ploppydisk's review
5.0
im going to just say this rn but i liked this as much as i liked six of crows. which is saying a lot. for entirely different reasons tho. this was a paranormal fantasy heavily entwined with the real world and also very much an adult novel. it was dark and sinister and honestly spooked me too much sometimes but i absolutely cannot and will not complain, because as always leigh bardugo served. the plot, the characters, the twists, the heart wrenching backstories, this had it all.
the concept itself had me hooked from the beginning. i loved alex, the mc, so so much. she's deeply flawed and messed up but has become one of my favourite protagonists. i also loved darlington because he is literally everything tbh. he's literally described as the golden boy. he's incredibly smart, charismatic and inquisitive, and above all, a gentleman.
tl ; dr, it's LEIGH BARDUGO, just read it. deserves as much hype as the grishaverse. ‼️make sure to check trigger warnings ‼️
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
patienceholmes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
faduma's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
msradiosilence's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
I have quite a few gripes with this one. Listen, I love dark academia as much as the next Master’s student, but I don’t like authors writing outside of their lane.
There’s been a ton of (very fair) criticism about Leigh Bardugo, a white person, writing from the perspective of a Latina woman who has the ‘did not earn her place’ stereotype at a prestigious university. There are PLENTY of racists out there who 100% believe that Black, Indigenous, and other people of color don’t earn the spots they have at colleges and universities, and are rather only there because they’re being used to meet a quota, and subsequently taking the spot of some deserving white person, which is entirely FALSE. This is RACIST. And this is
This is a huge issue, and one that GREATLY dropped my review of a book I think I otherwise would have enjoyed. Secret societies? Yes, give it to me. Murder? Absolutely. A character that can see ghosts? Hell yeah. But it’s all overshadowed by the fact that Bardugo chose to write a character like Alex.
I’ll probably read the second one, considering I have it already, but I don’t think I’ll be buying the others. If I’m really pressed about the mystery, I’ll just google it.
Rating: 2.25
Would I recommend? No. I refuse to recommend books I disagree with on a morality issue.
Content warnings: Rape (implied, discussed), Sexual Assault (on page), Child Rape (on page), Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Overdose, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder (on page), Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Racism, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, and Gore
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
chronicacademia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer